Gender symbol#Sociology

{{infobox symbol|mark={{IPA|♂ ♀ ⚥
△ □ ○}}

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• {{unichar|2642|male sign}}
• {{unichar|2640|female sign}}
• {{unichar|26A5|male and female sign}}
• {{unichar|25B3|thite up-pointing triangle}}
• {{unichar|25A1|white square}}
• {{unichar|25CB|white circle}}

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The three standard sex symbols in biology are male {{char|♂}}, female {{char|♀}} and hermaphroditic {{char|⚥}}; originally the symbol for Mercury, {{char|☿}}, was used for the last. These symbols were first used by Carl Linnaeus in 1751 to denote whether flowers were male (stamens only), female (pistil only) or perfect flowers with both pistils and stamens. (Most flowering and conifer plant species are hermaphroditic and either bear flowers/cones that themselves are hermaphroditic, or bear both male and female flowers/cones on the same plant.) These symbols are now ubiquitous in biology and medicine to indicate the sex of an individual, for example of a patient.{{cite journal |last1=Han |first1=Zhigang | last2=Leung |first2=Tommy W. C. |last3=Zhao |first3=Jinkou |last4=Wang |first4=Ming |last5=Fan |first5=Lirui |last6=Li |first6=Kai |last7=Pang |first7=Xinli |last8=Liang |first8=Zhenbo |last9=Lim |first9=Wilina W. L. |last10=Xu |first10=Huifang |display-authors=1 |date=25 September 2009 |title=A HIV-1 heterosexual transmission chain in Guangzhou, China: a molecular epidemiological study |journal=Virology Journal |publisher=BioMed Central |volume=6 |issue=148 |pages=Figure 1 |doi=10.1186/1743-422X-6-148 |pmid=19778458 |pmc=2761389 |quote=(Mars male gender symbol) indicates male; (female Venus gender symbol) indicates female |doi-access=free }}{{efn|In the biological sense of the word, there are no human (or mammalian) hermaphrodites, but 'hermaphodite' has long been used for ambisexual people who are now more commonly labeled intersex.Alice Domurat Dreger (1998) Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex}}

File:Eg-filiation.svg

Kinship charts use a triangle {{char|△}} for male and circle {{char|○}} for female.{{Cite web |url=https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Anthropology/Cultural_Anthropology/Cultural_Anthropology_(Evans)/08%3A_Kinship/8.01%3A_Kinship_Diagrams|title=8.1: Kinship Diagrams |website=socialsci.libretexts.org |author=Lumen Learning |access-date=2024-12-08}} Pedigree charts published in scientific papers use an earlier anthropological convention of a square {{char|□}} for male and a circle {{char|○}} for female.{{cite journal |last=Schott |first=G D |date=24 Dec 2005 |title=Sex symbols ancient and modern: their origins and iconography on the pedigree |journal=BMJ |publisher=British Medical Journal |volume=331 |issue=7531 |pages=1509–1510 |doi=10.1136/bmj.331.7531.1509 |pmid=16373733 |pmc=1322246}}

Before a shape distinction was adopted, all individuals had been represented by a circle in Morgan's 1871 System of Consanguinity and Affinity of Human Family, where gender is encoded in the abbreviations for the kin relation (e.g. M for 'mother' and F for 'father').{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/systemsofconsang00morgrich|title=Systems of consanguinity and affinity of the human family|last=Morgan|first=Lewis Henry|date=1870|publisher=[Washington, Smithsonian Institution|others=University of California Libraries}} W. H. R. Rivers distinguished gender in the words of the language being recorded by writing male kinship terms in all capitals and female kinship terms with normal capitalization. That convention was quite influential for a time, and his convention of prioritizing male kin by placing them to the left and females to the right continues to this day though there have been exceptions, such as Margaret Mead, who placed females to the left.{{Cite web|url=https://histanthro.org/clio/visual-kinship/|title=Visual Kinship|last=Wilson|first=Ara|date=2018-07-24|website=History of Anthropology Review|language=en|access-date=2019-12-02}}

{{anchor|Toilets}}

{{Main article|Public toilet#Society and culture|Unisex public toilet}}

The modern gender symbols used for public toilets, {{char|🚹︎}} for male and {{char|🚺︎}} for female, are pictograms created for the British Rail system in the mid-1960s.{{cite web |quote=Classics of design: One of the best early examples of intuitive global signs for public lavatories was that created for British Rail in the mid-1960s. As part of a major modernisation programme, the state railway was given a new and all-embracing corporate identity by DRU [Design Research Unit], a design studio founded by Marcus Brumwell and Misha Black in 1943. Working with Margaret Calvert and Jock Kinneir, who designed a distinctive Rail Alphabet typeface based on Helvetica, DRU devised a clean-cut and convincingly modern aesthetic that was applied to all locomotives, trains, stations, published material and, yes, signs for lavatories. |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140911-the-genius-of-toilet-signs |title=The genius behind stick figure toilet signs |publisher=BBC |first=Jonathan |last= Glancey |date= 11 September 2014}} (includes picture of the ideogram, which is copyright). Before that, local usage had been more variable. For example, schoolhouse outhouses in the 19th-century United States had ventilation holes in their doors that were shaped like a starburst Sun {{char|✴}} or like a crescent Moon {{char|☾}}, respectively, to indicate whether the toilet was for use by boys or girls.Eric Sloane (1972, 2007) The Little Red Schoolhouse: A Sketchbook of Early American Education. Doubleday & Co.; Dover Books. The British Rail pictograms{{snd}}often color-coded blue and red{{cn|date=July 2022}}{{snd}}are now the norm for marking public toilets in much of the world, with the female symbol distinguished by a triangular skirt or dress, and in early years (and sometimes still) the male symbol stylized like a tuxedo.

These symbols are abstracted to varying degrees in different countries{{snd}}for example, the circle-and-triangle variants24x24px (male) and 24px (female) commonly found on portable toilets, sometimes abstracted further to a triangle {{char|△}} (representing a skirt or dress) for female and an inverted triangle {{char|▽}} (representing a broad-shouldered tuxedo) for male in Lithuania.

In elementary schools, the pictograms may be of children rather than of adults, with the girl distinguished by her hair. In themed locations, such as bars and tourist attractions, a thematic image or figurine of a man and woman or boy and girl may be used.{{cn|date=July 2022}}

In Poland, an inverted triangle {{char|▽}} is used for male while a circle {{char|○}} is used for female.

In mainland China, silhouettes of heads in profile may be used as gender pictograms,{{cn|date=July 2022}} generally alongside the Chinese characters for male (男) and female (女).{{Cite web |last=Summers |first=Josh |date=2020-11-19 |title=Chinese Toilet {{!}} What to Expect (including Squat Toilets) |url=https://www.travelchinacheaper.com/china-toilets-guide |access-date=2023-06-02 |website=Travel China Cheaper |language=en-US}}

Some contemporary designs for restroom signage in public spaces are shifting away from symbols that demonstrate gender as binary as a way to be more inclusive.Schwartz, M. (2018). Inclusive Restroom Design. Library Journal, 143(8), 28–31.{{Cite journal |last=Dobson |first=Terry |date=Winter 2017 |title=Tip of the Icon: Examining Socially Symbolic Indexical Signage |journal=Dialectic |volume=I |issue=1 |doi=10.3998/dialectic.14932326.0001.106 |issn=2572-7001|doi-access=free |hdl=2027/spo.14932326.0001.106 }}

File:Toilets unisex.svg|Standard American Institute of Graphic Arts{{nbsp}}(AIGA) symbols

File:Female symbol on public restroom.JPG|Non-AIGA women's symbol on a legally mandated circular background in US

File:Male symbol on public restroom.JPG|Non-AIGA men's symbol on a legally mandated triangular background in US

File:Gender Neutral Bathroom.jpg|Gender-neutral sign in US, composed of legally mandated circle and triangle

File:Toilet for everyone.jpg|Accessible gender-neutral sign icon

File:All gender restroom sign.jpg|Idiosyncratic unisex restroom in US (see LGBT symbols)

File:5754-Linxia-City-Xiguan-Lu-public-toilet.jpg|Public toilet in China, with female silhouette to the left and male to the right

File:Restroom (4652458500).jpg|Idiosyncratic symbols in Japan

File:CAM00224 Washroom (11211245793).jpg|Humorous symbols in Austria

File:Toalett (Budapest) 1.svg|Semi-triangular tuxedo and dress shapes in Hungary

File:Toilet Promenadengalerien Linz - sign.jpg|Triangle-plus-circle symbols in Austria

File:Wojska Polskiego WC Jurata (cropped).jpg|Circle (female) and inverted triangle (male) in Poland

File:Sigiŝoaro, duseksa necesejo, 1.jpeg|Sign in Romania, with men's and women's shoes representing gender

File:Separate toilets for three genders.jpg|Male, female and hijra (trans) public toilets in India

File:Toilet signs in Madrid horticulture garden.jpg|Signs in the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid; the male is depicted with a large upper body and the female with wide hips

File:Placa multigêner kúyr acessível.jpg|Rainbow accessible multigender icon with gender-neutral word

File:Transgender woman's bathroom symbol.jpg|A bathroom sign in the US showing a transgender flag across a woman's bathroom symbol

{{See also|LGBTQ symbols}}

File:Westerkerk - Gay symbols 2.jpg

Since the 1970s, variations of gender symbols have been used to express sexual orientation and gender politics. Two interlocking male symbols {{char|⚣}} are used to represent gay men while two interlocking female symbols {{char|⚢}} are often used to represent lesbians.{{cite web |url=http://castle.eiu.edu/~lgbtqa/symbolism.php |title=Symbolism |author= |website=LGBTQA+ WebCenter |publisher=Eastern Illinois University |access-date=31 December 2015 |quote=Since the 1970s, gays have used double interlocking male symbols to represent gay men. Double interlocking female symbols are often been used {{sic}} to symbolize lesbianism, but some feminists have instead used the double female symbols to represent sisterhood among women and three interlocking female symbols to denote lesbianism. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212143017/http://castle.eiu.edu/~lgbtqa/symbolism.php |archive-date=12 February 2016 |url-status=dead }} Two female and two male symbols interlocked represent bisexuality, while an interlocked female and male symbol {{big|{{char|⚤}}}} represents heterosexuality.

The combined male-female symbol {{char|⚥}} is used to represent androgyne people; when additionally combined with the female {{big|{{char|♀}}}} and male {{big|{{char|♂}}}} symbols to create the symbol {{char|⚧}}, it indicates gender inclusivity,{{cn|date=July 2024}} though it is also used as a transgender symbol.{{cite web|date=July 1994|title=Transgender Symbol|url=https://www.gendertalk.com/tg-symbol/|website=GenderTalk}}{{cite web|date=2015|title=History of Transgender Symbolism|url=http://transgendersociety.yolasite.com/history-of-transgender-symbolism.php|website=International Transgender Historical Society (ITHS)|access-date=2018-11-13|archive-date=2021-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601020917/http://transgendersociety.yolasite.com/history-of-transgender-symbolism.php|url-status=dead}} The male-with-stroke symbol {{big|{{char|⚦}}}} is used for transgender people.

The Mercury symbol {{big|{{char|☿}}}} and combined female/male symbol {{big|{{char|⚥}}}} have both been used to represent intersex people.{{cite web |url=https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/7275666/mercury_hermaphrodite_intersex_gender_sex_gender_identity_sexuality_icon |title=Mercury, hermaphrodite, intersex, gender, sex, gender identity, sexuality icon |last=Eigtved |first=Martin LeBlanc |website=Iconfinder}} The alchemical symbol for sublimate of antimony {{big|{{char|🜬}}}} is used to represent non-binary people. The neuter symbol {{big|{{char|⚲}}}} is also used to represent non-binary people, especially those who are neutrois or of a neutral gender. A featureless circle {{char|⚪︎}} is also used to represent non-binary people, especially those who are agender or genderless, as well as asexuality.{{cite web |date=6 November 2022 |title=Unicode Asexuality Character |url=https://www.sexualdiversity.org/edu/symbols/emoji/1065.php |website=Sexual Diversity}}

Since the 2000s, numerous variants of gender symbols have been introduced in the context of LGBT culture and politics.{{cite book |last=McElroy |first=D.R. |title=Signs & Symbols of the World: Over 1,001 Visual Signs Explained |date=2020 |publisher=The Quarto Group |location=London, United Kingdom |isbn=9781577151869}} Some of these symbols have been adopted into Unicode (in the Miscellaneous Symbols block) beginning with version 4.1 in 2005.

{{Contains special characters|section=table}}

{{hatnote|These symbols are those that have code points allocated by the Unicode Consortium. For additional symbols, see {{section link|LGBT symbols#Encoding}}.}}

{{for|information on entering these symbols in a document|Unicode input}}

• {{anli|Symbol}}
• {{anli|List of symbols}}
• {{anli|Fertility symbol}}
• {{anli|LGBTQ symbols}}
• {{anli|Miscellaneous Symbols}}
• {{anli|Sex symbol}}
• {{anli|grammatical gender}}
• {{anli|Semiotics}}

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{{Sexual identities}}

Category:Gender and society

Category:Human gender and sexuality symbols